146 GWh of US factories against 60 GWh of demand

US capacity to manufacture modules and storage systems is expected to reach 146 GWh in 2026, above the projected annual demand of 60 GWh for large-scale projects in 2027, according to a U.S. Energy Storage Coalition report cited in the publication.

What does not appear is the value of the already installed asset when equipment prices fall. The NREL report Cost Projections for Utility-Scale Battery Storage: 2025 Update (NREL/TP-6A40-93281, June 2025), covering four-hour utility-scale lithium systems in the contiguous United States, starts from USD 334/kWh in 2024, projects between USD 147/kWh and USD 339/kWh in 2035 and assumes a useful life of 15 years.

This is a matter of residual value. A system bought today coexists, throughout its useful life, with new equipment that may cost less than half as much. This puts pressure on resale, on the value of the asset as collateral for financing and on the cost of cell replacement over the contract.

The economics of a storage project are decided by the price of the equivalent system in the year the asset needs to be replaced.